The Storm: The Beginning
by RobinLady-in-Waiting
Summary: A re-write of The Storm. While trying to steal the schematics of a new hover drone, Alec is dosed with a hallucinogen. A.N. Somone suggested that I expand the original story, so here it is. Shout out to my beta: SpaceLibrarian
1. Chapter 1 Blue

"You fell in love with a storm. Did you really think you would get out unscathed?"

**― **Nikita Gill****

**T.C. … **

Alec looked out over his corner of Terminal City as shades from midnight blue to brightest yellow faded across the horizon. His enhanced eyes counted a myriad of reds, oranges, pinks, purples, and blues.

Blue. Alec felt blue. He wondered how much longer he'd be paying Max back for fouling up the cure to the virus separating her and Logan.

"Blessing in disguise," he muttered. Now he understood the phrase he'd learned in Common Usage Vocabulary back at Manticore.

Heavy footfalls caught Alec's attention a half mile away. From the way he scuffed the toe of his shoes Alec knew Joshua even at a distance.

"Hey, Joshua," the blond transgenic called quietly to the dogman.

"Hey, Alec." With a huff, the dogman sat down on the cement edge of the rooftop six stories above the pavement.

"What are you doin' up here?" Joshua asked.

"Sentry duty, Big Fella. Keeping T.C. safe," Alec shrugged.

"Oh, keeping safe. Okay." The big Nomalie nodded, satisfied. He looked out at the melting sunset, a comfortable silence between them.

"What else you doin' up here?"

Alec blinked in confusion. Sentry duty seemed pretty self-explanatory.

"Uh, watching the sunset?"

What else is there to do, Alec wondered silently.

"Joshua likes to come up here to think." Nodding, he turned to Alec. It dawned on the younger transgenic where the conversation was headed.

"Thinking, that's good." By his mental calculations, sentry duty lasted another three hours, forty-seven minutes and sixteen seconds. Too long for a philosophical conversation.

"What is Alec thinking about?" Joshua kept on topic; a true dog with a bone.

"You know me, Josh. I'm not thinkin' of much of anything." Alec's full mouth quirked into his characteristic smirk.

"Ah, but X-5's always thinking, always curious. Too much cat DNA," he snickered.

"Ha, ha, hadn't heard that one before," the transgenic muttered dryly. Cat jokes were a dime a dozen among the Manticore alumni. Joshua almost howled with laughter.

"What's on your mind, Josh?" Alec asked, trying to have patience.

"Max looking for you. Big call from Logan." Joshua easily helped the smaller X-5 to his feet, slapping him heartily on the back.

"Great! Robo-boy," Alec muttered darkly.

**H.Q. …**

Alec took his place at Max's side as she sat down at the computer and webcam. He schooled his features, playing both her second-in-command and pseudo-boyfriend.

"Hey, Logan, what's the deal?"

Alec wondered if the Normal noticed how forced her voice sounded.

"A source says that Seattle P.D. is using stealth tech from China to camouflage at least one hover drone. They weren't able to get me the schematics but did say the camo hid the hover drone's heat signature and sounds from the motor. It also has FLIR; Forward-Looking InfaRed, which picks up heat signatures."

Alec watched Logan's light eyes scanning Max, a certain wistfulness in his expression.

"Great! How are we supposed to find them, with our noses?" Max turned to glare at both Mole and Alec when they snickered.

"What!? Maybe Dogman would be good for something after all." Mole shrugged. Everyone turned when a growl that vibrated throughout the room, making the hair on their arms and neck raise.

"Damn it, Mole!" Max hissed as the Nomalie glared back at Joshua.

"Quit it, you two. We've got enough problems." She smacked Mole on the back of the head. Joshua's growl lessened but his snarling expression did not.

"Sorry, Logan. Can your source dig up anything else?" Max returned to business.

"He said he'd try but they're keeping this locked down." Logan leaned back in his wheelchair with a heavy sigh.

Hmm. If his source can't produce the schematics maybe I can lift a copy, Alec thought. It would take greasing the palms of a few informants to find out who'd manufactured the hover drone camouflage but protecting T.C. and the Manticore refugees trumped the cost.

Good thing I always keep a stash for a rainy day, he gloated inwardly. He listened as Logan gave Max an update on news from outside T.C.; trivial stuff really, anything to keep Max on the line. Alec bored of it almost immediately but said nothing. No need to hear Max bitch for the next week about anything he said about or to Logan. He didn't need her breathing down his neck for any reason if he wanted to steal those schematics solo.

Those with the keenest eyes and ears stood guard duty around the clock. The usual group of anti-transgenics occupied the gate but most of the guards' attention centered overhead. Most reports of possible sightings occurred at night; objects blotting out light sources overhead, etc. Each report offered a new bit of information into the hover drone's patterns.

A few days after Logan's hover drone news Alec stepped out onto the roof of one of the tallest buildings, his automatic rifle slung across his shoulder.

"So, when are you plannin' on stealing the schematics?"

Alec stopped dead in his tracks.

"Wha-?" he began, gobsmacked.

"I saw the wheels turning after Logan told us." She used her index finger to circle his face.

"Better work on your bluffing skills. I was fishing and now I know." Max moved her hand to her jutted out hip.

"Whatever," Alec grumbled, angry at himself for such a rookie mistake.

"Well, when's the heist goin' down?"

Alec debated for a moment on whether or not to tell the truth.

Ah, hell. If I don't tell her she'll bitch until I tell her, he thought.

"In a few days. As soon as my source sets things up." He watched Max's reaction; approval or rejection.

You are SO pussy whipped, Alec told himself. This love-hate thing between us sucks.

"When's that? We need to know so we can plan, gather supplies." Arms crossed, Max looked Alec in the eye.

"Uh, there is no US or WE. This is a solo op. I'm going." No ifs, ands or buts.

"The camo hover drones are OUR problem - plural." With an index finger to Alec's chest, she made her point.

"This is a one-man job."

"And I'm the woman to do it!" She looked up at him, glaring, her head tilted straight back to meet his eyes. The glow of the security light lit up her face. Her eyes searched his as their breath mingled in the chilly air. Impulsively, Alec took her face in both hands and pressed his lips to hers, his eyes closed.

When she pulled away Max shoved him. Alec saw fear on her face in the split second before she walked away.

"Damn it!" he swore viciously, asking himself why. As if transgenic life and a fake relationship didn't complicate his existence enough.


	2. Chapter 2 Heist

**T.C. ... **

Things between us are always gonna be screwed up as long as Manticore's after us, Max thought, gripping the handrail hard enough to warp the metal. She left handprints several places along the rail on her way down to street level.

Max pulled her long, dark hair up into a high ponytail before taping her hands. She approached the punching bag slowly, imprinting Manticore and everything it stood for across the black leather. The first punch hardly moved the weighted bag. With each contact, the transgenic poured all her anger, fear and frustration into the blows. Every brother or sister she'd lost, every torture they'd inflicted pushed her to hit more furiously. Manticore had taken normalcy, holidays and relationships from them, among other things.

After two hours of pounding the heavy bag, Max called it quits. She took a cool shower at the gym and headed to her T.C. apartment. Throwing off her boots she flopped down on the mattress where she sometimes tried to sleep. Tonight proved no different than any other sleepless night.

"Great. I just wanna punch his stupid face," Max almost wailed in frustration.

Why is my life some damn angst-ridden romance novel, she fumed. Makes me want to tear my hair out.

She threw off the blanket and stood up to pace, hands on her hips. Before T.C. Max would have cried on O.C.'s shoulder. Now she couldn't even call her best friend.

Hoping to ease her tension, Max decided to start a to-do list for the upcoming day; anything to get her mind off Alec and that kiss. Two, double-columned pages later she'd made a plan of attack but released none of her pent-up panic.

"Guess I could go out and check in on the sentries," she muttered to herself slipping into her jeans.

Cool, pre-dawn air hit her face, cooling her cheeks first thing out the door. A few more minutes and the leader of T.C. had made it to the front gate.

"Sir!" an X-8 almost barked, slamming his feet together and straightening his spine.

"At ease," Max waved him down, giving a strained smile. The male X-8 stood down.

"Any possible hover drone news?" he asked, glancing up beyond the security lights.

"Not so far. We'll keep everyone posted." Max nodded and began moving toward the next set of guards. They all seemed so young.

"Geez! I'm not even twenty-five," she grumbled aloud to herself.

Thoughts much clearer, T.C's commandant headed back to her apartment. She managed to get four hours of sleep before dawn.

**The Next Day …**

Max took a deep breath before turning the doorknob to the Situation Room. Joshua, Mole and the others sat around a battered folding table, waiting. She spied Alec leaning against the rear wall, toying with an empty handgun clip.

Foreboding much, Alec, Max thought ruefully.

"Good morning, little fella," Josh greeted her happily. His good mood steadied her nerves.

"Hey, big fella." She couldn't help but grin.

"'Bout time," Mole grumbled around a stubby cigar.

"Any trouble at the gates overnight?"

Time for business.

Each of the lieutenants gave reports on the various situations the transgenic community faced. Everyone reported but Alec. Max felt his crystalline green eyes watch her every move. The muscles in his chiseled jaw worked, an outward sign of his inner turmoil.

After everyone drifted off to their various tasks Max cornered Alec. She'd dreaded being alone with him after THE KISS.

"Any news from your contact?"

Being professional, good, she thought, silently hoping to avoid tension.

"Yeah, they came through early this morning; location, security details, the whole deal." His voice sounded dull to Max; too neutral. Somehow she felt disappointed.

"Good. We'll gear up for tonight." The matter settled, Max turned to leave.

"Woah, hold on. There is no WE, Max. Like I said last night," he insisted.

"Yeah, and last night I said this is OUR problem. I'm going." Max insisted right back.

"Damn! You're stubborn," Alec thundered.

"You're no pushover either," Max retorted. Sets of heavy footfalls sounded out in the hall. Joshua threw open the door to the Situation Room roughly. Max and Alec both turned to look at him.

"What's up? Voices," he sniffed, waiting for an answer.

"Sorry, big fella. We were just discussing something."

"Arguing," Alec interjected, bound to have the last word.

"Same thing?" Josh eyed them suspiciously.

"No!" they answered in unison.

"No fighting," Joshua warned.

"Okay, big fella," Alec assured him with a winning smile. The dogman gave them a leery nod before leaving.

"Meet me at six, southern tunnel. You're responsible for bringing the gear," Max hissed before following Joshua out.

Alec adjusted the black backpack he carried over one shoulder as he walked toward the southern tunnel entrance. He nodded casually to the various transgenics he passed. On the damp, Seattle breeze he smelled Max.

That woman fills up my senses like no one else, he mused.

A fading, sagging Victorian on the outskirts of T.C. covered the entrance to the tunnel.

"Finally!" Max's voice came out of the dark basement. She snapped on a small flashlight though neither of them really needed the help.

"C' mon, let's go already."

Alec sensed her nervousness. He wondered if it stemmed from THE KISS or the heist. Both, he figured.

"What fun, a job with Little Miss Sunshine," Alec snarked, which got him a glare. Together they moved the heavy, metal cover used to block the house's coal chute. Beyond the original chute, they picked up the city's maze of nineteenth-century tunnels. Smuggling, bootlegging and all manner of illegal activities had taken place beneath the city since its founding. Logan had stumbled upon a moldy book about Seattle's illegal past. The book contained a fairly accurate map of the illicit tunnels.

"Did you bring the gear?" Max stopped abruptly.

"No," Alec feigned innocence. Max whirled around to face him, dark eyes glinting with anger.

"Of course I brought the gear." He held up the backpack he'd been carrying all along.

"Jerk!" Max shoved him roughly but with very little of her transgenic strength.

"As a dumb question, Maxie," the impish blond grinned. For a moment at least they'd forgotten THE KISS.


	3. Chapter 3 Drexel

**Earlier …**

Alec carefully wound the rope into his backpack, taking care not to let it twist or tangle. He laid in enough clips and then added four extra; just in case. Then came the arms they needed.

"Bad enough I have to arrange our way in, now I have to cover our asses in case of an ambush," Alec muttered as he slipped a handgun into the holster at the small of his back. He'd strapped a small knife to each calf as well.

"Max and her 'No Guns' policy." He slid a full magazine into a second handgun he planned to carry in a shoulder holster beneath his jacket. He wasn't about to let anything happen to her.

**18:30 hours …**

If it wasn't covered in rust at the former Cale Industries office building mold had taken hold. Situated between the water and the forest, left everything damp pretty much year round.

"Hope you're up-to-date on your tetanus shots," Alec wrinkled his nose at the crumbly rust from the bottom rung of the fire escape ladder on his gloves. He wiped his hand off on his pants.

"Tetanus is the last thing on my mind. What'd your source say about security?"

"Four doors on the first floor, two fire exits on the second, bars on the windows both levels, two guards per twelve-hour shift, one on each level. Security's gone downhill since Cale Industries went belly up." Alec rattled off as they climbed the ladder, Max first, of course. He couldn't say he minded the view though.

"Why keep the schematics here? Why not a bank? Seems hinky to me." Max commented, looking over her shoulder at Alec.

"The engineer behind the upgrade is wanted, internationally. He's here with the schematics." Both transgenics stepped onto the roof, scanning their surroundings for threats.

"Bodyguards?" Max asked just below human hearing.

"One," Alec answered, edging toward the roof access door. Together, he and Max cut the electricity and phone lines. Minutes later they'd let themselves into the roof access door and down the short flight of stairs to the second floor. Alec led the way. Cat DNA allowed them to sneak silently along the wall, avoiding all the usual office furniture. In the rear corner sat cot, a human size lump laying vertical in the center.

"Wake up," a gruff male voice said in the darkness.

"I am," came a smoother, male voice.

Alec threw out his arm, halting Max in her tracks. He turned to her to see a glare on her pretty face.

"I recognize the second voice. Manticore," he signed. The anger in Max's expression evaporated.

"Is he the drone engineer?" she signed back.

"Probably," Alec frowned, lips pursed. "Stay close and be quiet," he ordered, only to receive an eye roll.

"We're the only ones on the block without lights," the gruff-voiced guard observed. The sound of a gun sliding over leather alerted the transgenics to danger. Max and Alec blurred toward the cot, expecting a fight. Max subdued the bodyguards first before Alec got hold of the other transgenic.

"Woah! Woah! Easy fellas." When Max snapped on her flashlight she saw Alec poised to punch a shaggy-haired young man, his hands held high.

"What the hell, man!" Alec fisted the guy's shirt. "Working for the enemy?"

"Not a lot of choice in the matter. It's rigged to explode at the push of a button." He pointed to a collar around his neck.

"The Familiars?" Max questioned.

"Who?"

"Breeding cult that makes Manticore seem sane. What's your name?" Max asked, letting down her guard.

"X5-440," he answered out of habit.

"Your name not your designation," Max persisted.

Max and names, Alec thought silently, releasing the other man's shirt.

"Drexel," he shrugged.

"Nice to meet you, Drexel." She offered her hand for shaking. "I'm Max and this is Alec."

"The '09'er?" The question sounded neutral enough but Alec saw her bristle.

"Yeah. That a problem?" She stood toe-to-toe with him, daring him.

"Nope. Live and let live." He backed off, both hands raised.

"C' mon, let's get the schematics and then jet, see what we can do about that shock collar." She gestured to the gray band about an inch wide around his neck.

"I have the real schematics up here," he grinned, tapping his temple. "I give them everything and I'm expendable." Good thinking.

I'm gonna keep an eye on our new friend, Alec decided, letting Drexel walk ahead of him.

"I'll be glad to get rid of this thing."

Alec knew the feeling. He shivered, remembering the feeling of having an explosive shoved into the base of his skull. Each second that ticked by had felt like another cement block in his gut. He still had a score to settle with White over that.

"I'd say so," Max commented, stopped at the edge of the roof. Alec stepped up too, scanning the street below for the first-floor guard. He glanced over at her, watching the misty breeze play with her dark brown hair. The faint scent of her green apple shampoo drifted across his face.

Focus, he reminded himself.

"Clear," Max said before she set foot on the fire escape.

"Do you remember Psy-Ops?" Drexel began, an edge to his voice.

"Hard to forget." When Alec turned to look at Drexel the other X-5 held a finely ground power in the palm of his hand. One puff of breath and the powder hit Alec in the face. Drexel covered his nose and mouth with his shirt as Alec choked and sputtered, backing away in the process.

"I remember Psy-Ops like it was yesterday." Drexel lowered his t-shirt slowly. He stepped closer to Alec and began patting him down, confiscating his various weapons.

"I remember you, remember the inside of your mind after Berrisford. The darkness, the pain, and guilt. They almost scooped my brain out like a melon after I got done with you, X5-494. I had it good in Psy-Ops until you!"

"Max! Run!" Alec tried to shout down to street level. He clawed at his face, trying to wipe the powder away. Shapes and colors moved and merged around him.

"Yeah, tell your girlfriend to run." Drexel laughed. "I can find you all anytime with my hover drone."

Alec managed to get one foot over the building and onto the fire escape. His feet missed the second rung, nearly dropping him to the pavement below. Sweat broke out on his forehead and upper lip as his heart hammered in his ribcage.

"Alec, what happened?" Max's voice barely penetrated his fuzzy senses.

"Gotta run, Max." He grabbed her arm and began dragging her along.

"Hold on. Tell me what happened." Max dug in her heels and swung around to face him. She studied him as he stared at something behind her, blinking slowly.

"Alec!" Max pinched him.

"Huh?" He grunted, frowning as he met her eyes. She moved in closer, seeing the white residue on his face. Curious, Max wiped a bit of the powder onto her gloved hand. Before she could sniff at it, Alec slapped her hand away from her face.

"What the hell?" Max almost yelled.

"Don't feel so good, Maxie." She looked up into his green eyes, their pupils blown wide.

"C' mon, let's get back to T.C. and into Med Bay." She grabbed his hand and began leading him toward the manhole cover they'd come up through. Max moved the lid and sent Alec down first.

"Did Drexel do this to you?" Max asked, keeping Alec ahead of her in the damp, stinking space.

"Psy-Ops."

Max didn't understand the connection but took it as a 'yes'. She had more things to worry about. Without Drexel or the schematics, transgenics and T.C. lay like an open book to the hover drone. Now she had an incapacitated Alec on her hands.

"What's that!" he demanded, flattened against the side of the sewer tunnel halfway back to Terminal City.

"What's what, Alec?" Max peered around him, straining to see and hear what he did.

"Those colors, they're vibrating." He gestured toward a bend in the tunnel several yards away.

"It's okay, Alec. It's just the powder." Max had seen plenty of people high, trying to get away from dystopian Seattle, but she'd never experienced it herself. Every day outside Manticore was a gift and she wanted to enjoy it clear-headed. Anything that took reality out of her control wasn't her dealio.

"Powder yeah." Alec's lower lip pooched out as he frowned, for all the world making him look like lost, little boy.

Max, he is not cute. Repeat, he is NOT cute, she told herself as she took his hand and began leading him through the warren of tunnels. His longer, broader hand gripped hers tightly, enveloping it like a child's.

Just yards from the coal chute Alec jerked away and began backing away from her. Fear in his eyes startled Max. She'd only seen it one other time, mere seconds before his head was set to explode.

"No, no, no! Stop, Maxie, Lydecker's coming." His usually strong voice cracked as he balled himself up behind a cement pillar.

"It's okay, Lydecker isn't here. We need to get to Med Bay." Max softened her voice to a gentle coaxing tone.

"We shouldn't be outta the barracks, Maxie. Lydecker's gonna punish us. He's gonna stick us in the cages again." He shook his head as he looked up at her, pleading. "I don't wanna go to the cages, Maxie."

She squatted down to his level. "I won't let Lydecker put you in a cage, Alec. I promise." He nodded before standing up, taking her hand again.

Just wait 'til I get my hands on Drexel. I'm gonna enjoy kicking his ass, Max thought, scowling in the darkness.

With Alec in tow, Max made it to the coal chute just as full darkness fell over their abandoned corner of Seattle. She set aside the heavy, metal barrier and led them inside.

"I left my gear, my backpack," Alec pulled away.

"We need to go to Med Bay. We'll go back for your stuff later." A stubborn gleam shone in his eyes as Max tried to keep him from re-opening the chute, each of them tugging on the opposite corner.

"I really don't want to fight with you, Alec," she growled. Dealing with a sober Alec was difficult enough.

"My stuff. I have to get my stuff." They began scuffling. Max hated to but she kneed him in the groin.

"I don't have time for this," she huffed as she began dragging Alec up the stairs.

"Damn! You're heavier than you look." At a head taller he outweighed her by fifty or so pounds.

Outside the house, Max hailed the first person she saw. "C' mon, help me get him into Med Bay," she ordered. Even in pain, Alec still shied away from noises, shouting and fighting as Max and the other transgenic helped him to his feet.

"Get offa me!" he kept yelling, pushing at them. Max managed to duck a wild punch.

"He's been dosed with something. Be careful." Max grabbed Alec's wrists while the transgenic helping her tried to get his legs. Alec kicked the guy in the face, bowling him over backward.

"Go get Mole and Joshua, some of the others," Max ordered the guy as he rolled away to safety.

"You're not puttin' me in a cage! Can't go back to Psy-Ops. I'm not like him!"

Alec's screams brought transgenics out of the woodwork. Max gave them all a signal to stay back. A few moments later Mole and Joshua both came running up.

"What the hell!" Mole demanded, taking one look at the scene. He carried a sawed-off shotgun slung over his left shoulder and a handgun stuck down in his waistband.

"He's been dosed with something," Max explained. One look at Mole and Joshua brought Alec to a standstill. He began edging backward, eyes locked on the Nomalies.

Mole turned to one of the X-6's who'd followed him and had a whispered conversation. The X-6 took off at a blur a few moments later.

"Alec scared." Joshua lifted his nose as he spoke.

"Not gonna put me in the basement either," Alec shouted, advancing on Mole and Joshua, his face contorted in rage. "Stay away from me. I didn't screw up. I'm not defective like 493. I'm X5-494."

Joshua threw up his arm to ward off punches while Max and Mole tried to drag Alec away and toward Med Bay. Joshua bear hugged Alec from behind and together they herded him toward the former clinic they'd converted into Med Bay. Having so many people so close, Alec fought harder to get away. The X6 Mole had dispatched returned, carrying a cattle prod.

"Stand aside, I rigged this with a taser current." Turned loose, Alec managed to draw himself up into a fighting stance. When he threw his first punch Mole touched the prod to Alec's gut, bringing him to the ground in the fetal position instantly. Joshua let out in involuntary whimper of sympathy.

"Lenus, take blood samples and a swab of the powder on his face," Max ordered, hands on her hips.

"Then take him to the cell," Mole barked, eyeing the X5 leader.

"We can't put him in the cell, that's exactly what he's paranoid about," Max shot back, moving into Mole's personal space.

"He's too much of a threat anywhere else." Argument on.

"Mole right, little fella. Alec dangerous." Josh and Mole were right, Max knew, but at the same time, they hadn't seen Alec begging her not to let them put him in a cage.

"Okay, but he needs to be sedated first," she ground out. Max turned her back and stepped up to the bariatric gurney where they'd managed to strap Alec down.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, touching his face.

At least the cell is padded, she told herself.


	4. Chapter 4 Surveillance

**Cale Industries Office Building …**

Dozens of images flickered across the computer display, some vivid orange, others red fading into blue. Feet up on the desk beside the keyboard, Drexel grinned as he watched the scuffle going on in the center of the street outside a crumbling, wooden house.

Mess with my mind, will you, he thought, a sneer on his angular features. He leaned forward and adjusted the volume on the speakers flanking the computer screen.

"Stay away from me. I didn't screw up. I'm not defective like 493. I'm X5-494."

A pure, keening rage filled X5-494's voice. Drexel could only imagine the look on his face, the way his eyes blazed, his jaw working as he struggled against the others trying to contain him. Drexel had seen it all before, probing his mind years before. He'd probed countless minds for Psy-Ops but none of the other X-series hearts and minds had been as strongly connected.

Resentment at being a twin to the traitorous 'O9er, Ben, had surfaced first. Painful but sweet feelings of attraction and longing for Rachel Berrisford made losing her cut all the more deeply when Drexel had slipped into 494's psyche all those months ago. Guilt at the assassinations; the blood on his hands racked the young man. Guilt at feeling guilty, guilt over pride at being the best at the destruction of life haunted him. He'd lost himself in women and alcohol, scams and risky heists for a while.

The wear and tear of X5-494's emotions had overwhelmed Drexel, leaving him a sedated basketcase for months before he'd been reassigned to an engineering unit at Manticore. A demotion.

Who's screwing with whose mind now, 494, Drexel thought, chuckling as he watched a large, red figure drag him out of frame.

**T.C. …**

"There has to be somewhere else we can put him. It's been twelve hours and he's still raving." Max gestured to the cell door as she tore into Mole. She'd paced the hall outside the cell since they'd locked Alec in. The old asylum they'd converted for housing had one cell set aside for out of control transgenics. So far, no one had needed to stay there.

Until Alec.

"No can do, princess. He's still a loose cannon. It took six of us to get him from the Med Bay to here." Mole argued back, eyes narrowed and jaw set stubbornly.

"Max?" Dix spoke tentatively.

"What?!" Max snapped. The Nomalie stepped back, eyes wide. Max shook her head.

"Sorry, Dix. What is it?" Her voice softened, she tried to project the image of someone in control of themselves.

"The test results you asked Dr. Carr to analyze are in." Dix handed her a printout.

Max quickly scanned the full page of medical terminology, her brow creased.

"Damn!"

"Dr. Carr say what the treatment is?" Max handed the report over to Mole.

"He's working on it, but he says to keep him comfortable; hydrated, and hopefully it will run its course," Dix answered, shaking his head.

"Thanks, Dix. Let me know when Carr calls back."

Max leaned back against the brick, tears streaming down her cheeks as she listened to Alec rail. What he'd done, THE KISS had scared her. His emotions conveyed by his tender touch and by the electric current between them confused her. Her own response confused her most. She had liked Alec's kiss. Alec whom she barely tolerated most of the time. The morally gray transgenic whose ass she'd saved numerous times sent good shivers down her spine with a touch. X5-494 whom she's chosen to save despite his betrayal. Ben's twin, the decision she'd made that cost her the cure to the virus.

It's not fair, rang through Max's brain. I can't lose him now!

"Life's not fair, boo, but you gotta face it head-on, an' that's best done by following your heart." O.C.'s advice came back to Max.

How do I do that, O.C.? Max wondered silently as she walked toward the street, back toward her apartment in T.C. Everything felt jumbled; emotions, logic, facts even.

Max walked the streets and the rooftops of T.C. until dawn, the Space Needle too far away to be safe.

**T.C. …**

**The Cell …**

"Get out!" Alec shouted, his voice dulled by the padded walls.

"I'm not him!" Sweat coursed down his face as he charged the figure taunting him. Just when it seemed he would make impact the figure blurred away.

"You are X5-493's identical twin. Same defective genetics. Same predilections."

Alec ran his hands through his hair, a roar of rage and resentment rising from his diaphragm.

"Why do you think you were assigned to solo assassination ops? Manticore turned those urges into something productive. I turned you into a perfect soldier." The figure casually leaned against the door barring Alec from escape.

"I never wanted that! I never wanted to kill anybody!" Muscle spasm contracted inside Alec's stomach, making him retch. He pulled himself into a ball as shivers rippled up and down his frame.

"But you did, Simon," came a feminine voice from deep within the shadows.

"I didn't want to. Please believe me, Rachel. I tried to warn you." Alec fell to his knees, sobbing at her feet.

"You screwed that one up, X5-494, now you're paying the price," Lydecker's husky voice spoke close to his ear. "Maybe next time you'll follow orders; complete the mission."

"Has he eaten or drank anything?" Max asked quietly. She'd finally walked all of T.C. she could stand and headed back to the asylum.

"No, Alec not eat," Joshua answered, his long hair swinging as he shook his head.

"Joshua worried for Alec." The big dog-man let a small whine out.

"Me too, big fella. Me too." Max rubbed his arm reassuringly. "It's been almost twenty-four hours and there doesn't seem to be a change."

"Too bad, 'cause if I hear him call your name one more time I'm gonna pop him in that pretty, X5 face," Mole interjected.

Feet thudding from down the hall cut Max off in mid-comment.

"Max! Good news." Dix called, a wide grin on his pale face.

"Good, we could use some of that about now." Mole grumbled from his folding chair outside the cell.

"Logan and I were able to pinpoint the frequency of the camouflaged hover drone. We can shut it down."

Max's mind began to whirl. Shutting it down would be a good thing, but knowing the frequency meant they could also do two other things: track it and send its operator a message.

"Don't shut it down just yet, I have a plan." A wicked gleam turned Max's dark brown eyes positively coal black.


	5. Chapter 5 Street Moves

**Cale Industries Building …**

"Okay, Max, we're all set on this end," Dix's voice cracked across the comm system in her ear.

"Okay, here we go," Max kicked in the door to the basement of the Cale Industries Building where they'd 'rescued' Drexel. As soon as they'd isolated the frequency of the hover drone and tracked it to its source a team of recon specialists staked out the building. By the cover of darkness, Max and a small strike team breached the underground level.

"What the … ?" Drexel swiveled in his chair before jumping to his feet as Max and her strike team walked through the door she'd just obliterated. Behind him, blazoned across three screens lay images of Terminal City.

"Knock, knock. Sorry to drop by unannounced," Max greeted, hands fisted at her sides.

"I guess the doorbell is broken," Drexel smiled, slowly pulling himself into a fighting stance.

"Guess so," Max shrugged casually.

That's not the only thing gonna be broken tonight. I'ma break your face, Max thought.

Drexel swung first, taking the offensive. He'd learned the same skills at Manticore Max had but in her ten years of freedom she'd learned a few street moves. Drexel went down with one blow from the short piece of pipe she'd let slide from inside her jacket sleeve.

**Hours Later …**

Drexel's ears came back on-line before anything else. He knew that voice.

"We're ready, Max," a male voice answered.

"Good. Haul his ass out here so we can go," She replied with clear disdain. Overcast light pervaded the back of the rusting work van where Drexel found himself, bound hand and foot with a bandana gag for good measure. Rough hands grabbed him and dragged him out of the rear of the van and practically tossed him onto the ground. A second later a duffel bag landed beside him.

"You're awake. Good. Let's talk." Max squatted down to his level.

"I ever see you in Seattle I'll make Manticore seem like a spring picnic. You understand?" She smacked the back of his head - hard. "In fact, don't come back to the Lower Forty-eight. Or else."

Drexel wriggled as she stood up and walked away.


	6. Chapter 6 The Asylum

**Terminal City …**

**The Asylum …**

Max paced up and down the hall outside the cell, biting her lip and looking in on Alec every few minutes. He'd yet to come down from the powder Drexel had dosed him with.

"Max," he growled. "I needed you. I've always needed you." His voice broke as he slammed his fists against the padded wall. "Before I knew you I needed you."

Max's heart tightened in her chest as she watched him through the narrow slit at eye level. He didn't know that she wasn't actually in the room with him. The delusions had kept him strung out for nearly 36 hours, depriving him of sleep, of rest, of sanity.

"Damn Psy-Ops and their mind games. Hasn't Alec been through enough? Now this," she cursed under her breath.

"I want to love you the right way. I swear I do. I don't know how." He leaned his forehead against the wall.

"Never learned that one. I loved Rachel. Now she's dead. If I love you I might lose you, too. Couldn't take that. I'd rather die." He railed against the imaginary world around him. The drugs the Psy-Ops rogue had blown into his face didn't seem to be wearing off. Max wondered if his psychosis would be permanent. A living hell.

Alec turned his back to the wall and began to slide down it. He slumped in the corner, his long legs splayed out like a dropped marionette. He stared into space, seeing what, no one knew. Tears began to course down his face and his hands lay palms upon his thighs.

"I saw you. Saw you before they shoved me into that cell to be your breeding partner. You still had the fire in your eyes. Manticore tried but they couldn't kill your fire."

The pain in his expression made Max want to cry. For the day and a half since the op had gone south and she'd led him back to T.C. like a child, white powder all over his face and shirt, she'd been by Alec's side. He'd fought savagely when the other transgenics had tried to help him in Med Bay. Only Max's voice had seemed to penetrate.

"Ben. You saw X5-493 first. Always Ben first. Manticore, Psy-Ops, they only saw him. I'm not X5-493!" Alec shouted, fists tightening and his face hardening, tears still wetting his face.

"He should have been the assassin, not me! He should be the one paying for Rachel. He escaped, not me! Why me?" he demanded, his voice roaring until it broke again.

Max couldn't stand it anymore. Ben and Rachel had been the cracks in Alec's armor for years. The rogue Psy-Ops tech had finally done something no one at Manticore could. They'd broken Alec. The hallucinogen had seeped into the cracks and ate at his mind like acid.

"Let me in," Max demanded of Mole. The lizardman hadn't been very far away from Alec in 36 hours either. Concern, though unspoken, was the only thing Max and Mole agreed on.

"It took six other X-5's to put him in that cell. You can't go in alone. He'll tear you to shreds." Mole warned, gesturing with his ever-present cigar.

"I don't care. Let me in. Alec needs me." Max's voice came out steadier than she felt. Seeing Alec like this twisted her guts. She knew he'd been alone too long already.

"Okay, but I ain't cleaning up the blood when he eviscerates you." Mole shook his head as he pulled out a heavy key and placed it into the reinforced door specifically designed for out of control Transgenics. Alec was the first to be put in confinement for any reason. And the last, Max hoped.

Max didn't look back as she walked through the door. She didn't flinch when the door shut behind her or at the sound of the key relocking the door. Max knew Mole only locked the door for others' protection.

"Alec," Max spoke normally, trying to gauge his reaction. A lump formed in her throat when he didn't respond or even look at her. Instead, he stared into the light coming from a recessed light fixture covered in steel mesh.

"Alec, it's me, Max," she tried again. At the sound of her name he blinked and turned to look up at her.

Okay, that's encouraging, she told herself.

"Who is Alec?" he said softly, almost slurred.

"You are, remember? It's short of for Smart Aleck." On bare feet, she eased toward him. She had shed her jacket and put everything out of her jeans' pockets, unwilling to give him a potential weapon. Not that it would matter to an X-5 if he wanted to hurt or kill someone.

"No, I'm not him. I'm someone else." Alec's brow furrowed in concentration. The keen intelligence and mischief Max had come to know had gone out of his eyes. Instead, those jade green orbs seemed cloudy and out of focus.

"X5-494 was your designation at Manticore," Max supplied, hoping to jog his memory, to pull him out of the weird world he now stared into.

"Him I remember," Alec spat hoarsely, but still gazing into nothingness.

"Him I hate."

Max halted halfway to where he sat when she saw the feral snarl transform his face. She never could have imagined Alec as anything other than handsome but now he looked hideous. Rage filled his eyes and his jaw clenched as the cords of his neck and down along his arms stood out.

"It was X5-494's fault I lost Rachel. Him and X5-493. All that time in Psy-Ops because of X5-493. All the solo missions because Manticore couldn't trust them with a team. Afraid they'd escape again like the 09'ers." Alec began to stand up, to find his feet beneath him. Max took a deep breath to prepare for a fight if necessary. She really didn't know if she would win with him this way.

"All that is over now, Alec. X5-493 is dead. Ben is dead. Remember I told you? We burnt Manticore to the ground. Now we're in Terminal City. You, me, Joshua and Mole. All of us. Everything is okay." Max spoke as calmly as she could manage, trying to appeal to his logic instead of using a soothing voice for a child.

"Dead? X5-493 is dead?"

Max breathed easier when Alec's fists loosened and he took a step back toward the corner.

"He was hurting people for no reason. He was out of control and I had to stop him. He begged me to kill him. He didn't want to go back to …" She paused. "He didn't want to hurt anyone and neither do you, Alec." Slowly, Max stepped closer and closer, until she could reach out and touch him. He stumbled back, the fight gone out of him and slid down the wall once more. Max knelt down beside him. Tenderly, she began to wipe the tears from his face.

"Help me, Max. Please." That voice, that same voice and those pleading eyes had looked up at Max before. It had been Ben asking her to release him from the tortures of his mind.

"I'm here, Alec. I'm not leaving." She settled down on the floor beside Alec and took him into her arms. Weakened, he let her pull him closer.

"I'm going to save you, Alec. I promise." A promise she wished she could have kept for Ben.

Max held Alec and talked to him for hours. He eventually fell asleep to the sound of her voice reciting a book she'd read. Even then, she held him. She stroked his messy hair and studied the sprinkle of freckles across his nose and cheeks. His soft, full mouth relaxed in sleep gave him an innocent, boyish look. Max hoped that when he woke up she'd see the mischievous spark in his green eyes that meant he'd returned to his right mind.

"I wish I could love you the right way, too. I've only ever read about it, seen it a couple times. You deserve to be loved, Alec. We all do," Max whispered against his temple sometime before dawn. A short while later she too fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7 Breakfast

**The Asylum …**

**A Few Hours Later …**

"Hey, Little Fella. Wake up."

Max woke up to Joshua squatting beside her, his face only a few inches from her own.

"Ugh! Morning dog breath!" She wrinkled her nose and turned away from the eager Nomalie.

"Alec better?" Joshua leaned back on his haunches, giving Max and the still sleeping Alec room.

"I don't know yet. It's good that he got to sleep, though." Quickly, she checked Alec's pulse, heart rate and breathing. All normal - for an X-5.

"C' mon, it's time for breakfast." Max couldn't help but smile back at Joshua's lopsided grin over the prospect of food.

"I want to be here when he wakes up. Do you mind bringing something back for us, Big Fella? I know Alec will like that."

Joshua nodded enthusiastically before standing upright and making his way out past Mole.

"Ain't he got enough beauty rest yet?" Mole asked, sticking his head in the door.

Max put her finger to her lips and glared at the lizardman to shut up. Mole rolled his eyes and gave a disgusted snort before leaving. He left the door open behind him; a small vote of confidence that Alec wouldn't go on a murdering rampage.

Ten minutes later Joshua returned with what passed for coffee in T.C. and a couple of tough sausage patties on crumbling biscuits wrapped up in a clean cloth.

"Sorry, all out of powdered O.J. and Twinkies." The last one made Joshua frown.

"Thanks, Josh. This is fine." She gave him an approving smile that wiped the thought, temporarily, of Twinkies out of his mind.

Max felt Alec begin to stir beside her before she could take her last bite of biscuit. Joshua had scarfed his down and moved on to painting. The morning light was perfect, he said.

"Max," Alec whispered, his voice rough.

"Yeah. I'm here." She watched him open his eyes and felt relieved that they were clear and bright.

"What happened?" he managed slowly.

"That rogue Psy-Ops tech blew some kind of powder in your face. You've been out of it for almost two, whole days." Confusion, pain and finally horror crossed his expressive face.

"I tried not to breathe it in. Then everything went fuzzy and nothing made sense." Alec ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to process all the images.

"It must have been designed to work only on transgenics." Max hoped she wasn't lying. She could only imagine what something like that could do to a Normal.

"I remember fighting, remember hurting." He lifted his shirt to look at two marks on his torso where Mole had stuck the cattle prod to him.

"It took Mole, Joshua and six X-5's to get you into confinement." Max didn't want to bring up all the things he'd said about Ben, about Rachel or wanting to love her the right way. His vulnerability haunted her.

"I hurt and I was angry and then you were here, talking to me." He looked up from the marks on his torso and into her eyes. Max hoped he didn't see her feelings in her eyes.

"I felt like killing you. You said my designation and I wanted to kill you. I wanted to kill myself." He pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead, rocking back and forth.

"It was just the hallucinogen. It warped your mind." She hoped it sounded truer to him than it did to her. Alec's pain had been real and tangible. And scary.

"I could have killed you, Max. What were you doing in here? I was dangerous. You should have shot me. What if it hadn't worn off? What then, Max?" His eyes blazed hot as they bore into hers.

"I'm not about to put you down like a dog like I did …" The name died on Max's lips.

Alec propelled himself to his feet but swayed dangerously. Max reached him just in time to keep him from falling forward. She pulled his arm around her shoulders and slid hers around his slim waist.

"It wore off and now you're better. Tomorrow you'll be fine." She pushed down the guilt that seemed to live halfway down her esophagus, ready to roil up.

"You did what you had to do with Ben. You should have done the same to me. I could have killed you, Max." She didn't miss the softness in his voice or the way his brow furrowed in concern.

"But you didn't and now it's over." She gazed up into his face, so unguarded. Max had rarely seen behind his 'I'm alright' mask.

"I couldn't have killed you, Alec. I couldn't live with it." She admitted, for once letting down her own defenses.

"I love you, Max," Alec said solemnly, his voice tender and honest.

"I love you too, Alec," she responded around the lump in her throat.

"You saved me. Thank you." He used his free hand to brush away an errant strand of her dark hair.

"Always," She smiled, her heart melted and humbled at his honesty, and her own.

Together they walked out of the confinement cell, the storm blown over.

"We did kiss, didn't we? Or was that the drug?" He paused as they neared the exit to the outside.

Max decided to answer honestly. She'd learned not to take second chances for granted. At least her time with Logan had taught her something, besides what wine to serve with what dish.

"Yes, we did. You ambushed me." She stopped, looking up into his pale face. "That was a few days before Drexel."

"Can I kiss you again sometime?" It wasn't a come-on or a lame line like he'd used on other women. His honesty more than anything startled Max. She'd been wondering what a second kiss would be like for days.

"Let's get you fed and cleaned up, then we'll see." She squeezed his torso a bit, her arm still around his waist.

"I can handle that." Alec squeezed back gently.

"I'm starved. Thought I smelled sausage."

Max smiled, knowing he'd be alright and they'd figure everything out eventually.

I'm not letting a second chance slip away again, though, she resolved to herself.

The End …


End file.
